One of the big winners through the past year has come in the form of the growing number of online casinos becoming available here – attitudes toward gaming as a whole have been changing in recent years and many who may have been reluctant to play at online casinos previously are now much more willing and are amongst the most active users of these services, but what does this mean for offline brick and mortar locations?
Many have suggested that those who have made the transition to online alternatives are more likely to be retained as an online player – through ease of access, a wider variety of games available to be played, and all of the utility that comes with online casinos through instant deposits and pay-outs for example. There will of course be the players adamant to stick around at brick-and-mortar locations, but whilst there is still the risk of the pandemic in the mind of many it may be harder to encourage players to return where there are still risks to doing so.
Another big benefit to online play that may impact the successful return of traditional casinos is the new player factor – the reason online casinos have been able to perform so well throughout the past year is due to the number of new players that have joined the services – the ease of access is a large reason why so many new players have been able to join which doesn’t exist for the brick and mortar locations which can often be a long travel for many players or require additional time to be taken out of the day which may not be an option for many. This isn’t a unique problem only facing casinos however as it seems to be impacting the online and offline market as a whole where online alternatives are seeing the big benefit – unless an approach can be made to not only ensure player safety but also give more than what online casinos can offer, whether this be through unique play bonuses or deposit benefits, it will be difficult to recoup many of the lost players. It does provide an opportunity for innovation, however, as online platforms have been able to introduce unique features to encourage new players such as live dealers, brick and mortar locations may be able to discover something unique they’re able to offer new players to encourage them through the doors too. It may still be some time before any change is made though, 2021 is heading down the same early course as early 2020 and so many offline locations may not have an option but to remain closed for an extended period of time.
